Samsung to Partner with Clemson, USC

Dec 08, 2017 12:55PM
● By Kathleen Maris

Samsung Electronics America announced a new research and development partnership with the state of South Carolina and its two largest universities, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina. Together with the state government, Samsung will create the Palmetto Consortium for Home Appliance Innovation (PCHAI), an R&D program designed to catalyze innovation, foster public/private collaboration, and nurture the next generation of advanced manufacturing professionals in South Carolina. The Consortium builds on Samsung’s existing manufacturing and customer care footprint in South Carolina.

The creation of the Consortium comes six months after Samsung announced it would open a new state-of-the-art home appliance manufacturing plant in Newberry, where production of washers will begin in the first quarter of 2018. It will be a critical component in Samsung’s commitment to researching, developing, and manufacturing quality products in South Carolina, and accelerate delivery of premium appliances to customers across the United States.

“With this partnership with two of our top research universities, Samsung is furthering its commitment to South Carolina, and to their success here," said Dr. Dochul Choi, senior vice president of R&D at Samsung Electronics America. "We look forward to seeing the developments that will come from the collaboration between this world-class technology company and some of the brightest minds in our state.”

The mission of the new partnership, which will be implemented over five years, is to enable world class research into areas such as new consumer electronics, energy efficient technology, advanced manufacturing technology, sensor technology, and other areas that are core to the innovation and production of quality home appliances.

Samsung selected Clemson University and the University of South Carolina for the new partnership because of their nationally renowned research programs in engineering, information technology, and computer science. They are the two largest universities in the state of South Carolina and are both classified as R1 Research Universities by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.